Charge 5 battery draining too fast

[SharleneH]

I have had the new Charge 5 for 2 days. The battery discharges within a day. GPS is off, the phone is not set to always on. In looking over the troubleshooting instructions from Fitbit, it seems that you essentially have to disable all of the features that were selling points of this device in order to get decent battery life. Even my ancient Charge 3 got 6 days on one charge! Has anyone with this battery problem found a solution other than disabling everything?

[JLB7289]

I ended up returning my first Charge 5 because of the terrible battery life. I have received a refund and I went ahead and bought another Charge 5. This one's battery life is great (only had it one day), as was the Charge 3 and Charge 4 I previously owned. So I'm happy, I like the brighter color screen and the better fitting band in particular, and the sleep tracking, my main interest, is working fine, no different than the Charge 4.

[Cindyfit4life]

I am returning mine as well.  I live the watch but if you have to turn all the features off that you bought it for to keep it running, there’s no sense in spending all that money.  I reactivated my Charge 5.

[DavideFitbit]

@SunsetRunner @Cindyfit4life @tsl14 @jones2000 @Alex_Lane @tamirice71 @gamefreakwizard @Gorro52 @JLB7289 @DebbieWy Thank you for all your replies and confirming that you already tried all the basic troubleshooting steps. 

Since you already tried all the basic troubleshooting steps mentioned earlier to improve the battery life of your device, I recommend that you get in touch with the Customer Support team here for further assistance with this. They will let you know how to proceed.

Thank you again for taking the time to share all your feedback about the Charge 5. The team of developers continues to work to improve the quality of products and services. 

Have a good day. 

[Alex_Lane]

Thanks Davide.  What are you saying here though?  What will Customer Services say - replacement units?  Have the Devs come up with any bug fix, or is it a faulty set of batteries (for example)?  Thanks again.

[RohanJacob]

Thanks - did the problem with viewing the Charge 4 screen get worse over time? That's how the Charge 3 issue started - low visibility got steadily worse till it reached a point of no visibility!

[str85]

Id love a reply from fitbit on this as well, love the charge 5 in theory but don't want to buy a new one until I'm sure ot won't have the same problems the last one did.

[newsman]

My Charge 4 was dim in bright sunlight to the extent I really couldn’t read the display. The Charge 5 is easily viewable outside. This is one of its big pluses! 

[SunsetRunner]

No it was weak from the start.

--------------------------------------

Update: After sending the Charge 5  back on September 28th via FedEx and a few phone calls my replacement is supposed to arrive tomorrow October 18th. Almost a full 3 weeks. Once I was told the replacement was being sent they sent it expedited mail.

Update: Replacement received today and updated the software. Let’s hope the battery lasts more than 24 hours. 

[KevC5]

My old Charge 3 lasted over a week everytime but the Charge 5 is a battery life disappointment. I followed all of the advice to slow battery drain but no luck. It goes from 100% to dead in 2 days. WTF!  Fitbit support please help!!! or I'm going to have to return this along with the 2 extra bands I just bought. 

[shangsfanclub]

I have the same issue. Sometimes it lasts longer, like my old Charge 3, but last night again, the battery dropped 50% overnight, while in sleep mode. It happens sometimes as well where it just drops 50%-60% while doing nothing

[str85]

I just bought a Fitbit charge 5 and this one doesn't have any issues with battery (at 94% almost 20h later). Used with the exact same phone, body and install procedur as the last one so I'd say its most likely a hardware issue. 

To bad Fitbit doesnt adress the issue, willdefinitly be looking at other brands in the future.

[yashvardhan]

Is your always on display enabled? If so you'll get 2 days.

[shangsfanclub]

My GPS is disabled, always on is disabled, everything to save power and still use the watch has been done, but it's just sometimes there's something that sucks away all the battery

[markp88]

I am experiencing the exact same! I have read ways to increase battery life but I purchased this fitbit over an Apple Watch due to the extended battery life and not having to worry about charging it daily. 

i have had it now since Monday and I have had to charge it each night prior to sleep. 

no exercise tracking, no gps usage. Just daily wear and a couple EDA sensing sessions.  

Fitbit has suggested turning off SP02, and other features. But that is a major selling point for me to get this that I can wear this with days without having to charge or worry about battery life and still track all my health metrics. 

as much as the screen is beautiful and I love fitbit app and the way it uses the data to clearly explain my health status, this is a dealbreaker and I will be returning it tomorrow. 

[Alex_Lane]

Reset the device after you charge it. Worked wonders for me.

It’s not right, as you have to do it each time - but it works. Only lost 3% overnight.

[ILOVEMOUNTAINS]

I found that Notifications from Calls, texts, emails was taking a hit on the battery.  I turned off notifications except for App Notifications and use it only for Water Drink Reminder app.  I believe if Notifications for calls, etc. is on it queries every 10-15 minutes even if no notifications to beam over to the fitbit (which takes a hit on battery life.)  I also turned my screen brightness from Normal to Dim (and still have no issues seeing it in bright daylight, etc.)  I do believe that Fitbit has over-exaggerated the Charge 5 battery life and should have under exaggerated it so that folks were pleasantly surprised rather than disappointed.  The only way I seem to be able to get anywhere near 5 days is to not record any exercises that would engage the GPS and basically forget I have the fitbit on (not auto-waking or manually waking the device.)  See note at end related to GPS.  I went camping recently and kept the fitbit in Sleep Mode and got about 5 and a half days.  I have also discovered that my Charge 5 did not want to charge to 100% unless I turned bluetooth off on my phone (or turn the phone off while I am charging the Fitbit.)  This is my first Fitbit device and I have discovered they are more quirky than I imagined they would be.  

If I select Hike or Walk from the Exercise menu and it engages the GPS, it will record the distance as 0.96 miles.  If I walk the same path without selecting an Exercise from the menu and let the fitbit automatically track the walk or hike, it will record it as being 1.46 miles.  It seems that if the GPS is engaged, the accuracy of the distance is negatively impacted.  This would be a big deal for anyone attempting to use their Charge 5 for longer hikes.  It is kind of a big deal for shorter hikes as anyone is capable of randomly guessing distances.  Arguably one of the most important features of an activity tracker is that is can accurately measure distance.  Another important feature would be that we would not have to turn off nearly all "features" to achieve even close to the claimed battery life.

I was having an issue where my Health Metrics would show No Breathing Rate and my Sleep Tile would show no Sleep Score or Sleep Stages (just generic time asleep and awake).  I believe the Heart Rate sensor was causing this issue and also maybe effecting battery life.

To check this,

Go to Settings on the Charge 5 itself,

Toggle Heart Rate OFF,

Sync fitbit,

Toggle Heart Rate ON,

Sync fitbit.

I also restarted the Fitbit (from the Settings menu on the device) following this in case that makes a difference.

This seems to have resolved my disappearing Sleep Stages and Sleep Score and also seems to have improved my Fitbit Charge 5 battery life.

I charged mine to 100% two days ago and am still at 87%.  My hypothesis is that this sensor may take a hit on the battery if it is not operating properly.

I hope this information may be helpful to someone experiencing these same issues.  Best of luck on troubleshooting.  

[atuesport]

Ahhh not just me, then. I thought I was doing something wrong. Mine is all the way dead before one day is up. It's brand new - I've had it two nights

[Cindyfit4life]

I sent it back until they can fix the problem. I love the looks but if you have to shut off all the features to get 24 hours out of a charge it’s simply not what I paid for. I’ll wear my Trusty Charge 4 that lasts 6-7 days on a charge.

Sent from my iPhone

Moderator edit: personal info removed

[Khronos]

I had the same problem. I just bought the Charge 5 and its battery went from 91% just before bed to 34% when I woke up. I uninstalled the SPo2 app on the Charge 5 via the Fitbit smart phone app as others have suggested. I then restarted the Fitbit and haven't had any battery drain problems since then.

[Auntygail]

I have the same problem, now my Fitbit won’t even turn on.